THE BIG NET NEUTRALITY DAY HAS ARRIVED … AGAIN — Today is (really) the last day for Internet companies, telcos and Web users to weigh in on the FCC's controversial net neutrality plan, after Tuesday's midnight deadline was extended until this evening — at least, that is, until the reply comment period opens immediately afterward. This comment docket hit the million mark around midday yesterday, and it may be on track to top the record 1.4 million comments that the agency received regarding Janet Jackson’s infamous Super Bowl “wardrobe malfunction." As of Thursday afternoon, the docket had 1,031,044 comments, per an agency aide.

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Most of the major players have already weighed in, after AT&T and the tech association ITI sent over their comments in the late afternoon yesterday. AT&T told the FCC it can ban Internet fast lanes — of course, without turning to Title II reclassification — but cautioned that "paid prioritization" may have a role to play in some sectors like telemedicine and educational services. (The full comment is here: http://politico.pro/1mSC8eu)

ITI, which represents Google, Apple, Facebook and others, similarly suggested the FCC should stay away from Title II — saying reclass "may raise difficult definitional questions regarding the demarcation between information and telecommunication services" or disincentivize investment in the Internet. That's a little bit surprising, given that a number of other tech groups have either shied away from taking a position on the reclass issue, like the Internet Association, or outright called for reclassification, like CCIA — and both those trade groups' memberships overlap with ITI's.

--SEPARATELY, AT&T KEEPS FCC’S EYES ON INTERCONNECTION: It’s not mentioned much in their net neutrality comments, but AT&T is making sure the FCC knows where it stands on interconnection, the burgeoning debate about what’s going on where internet networks sync up. AT&T's SVP of federal regulatory affairs, Bob Quinn, has participated in four meetings on the subject with FCC officials since the beginning of June, according to FCC ex parte filings. The most recent, on Tuesday, was with Chairman Tom Wheeler’s legal adviser, Daniel Alvarez — but Quinn and other AT&T employees have sat down with aides to GOP commissioners Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly, as well as FCC legal and technical officials. The main message: The interconnection market has developed without regulation, and there are lots of options for content companies to reach Internet users.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we could not be more excited for the DC Scoop ice cream face-off at Union Market this weekend (the line up of vendors is here: http://bit.ly/1qLj0OH). Let us know which you think is best — and send us your own versions of scoops over at emershon@politico.com and @eemershon. And catch the rest of the team's contact info after speed read.

** Presented by JPMorgan Chase & Co.: According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, there are about 10 million unemployed, while four million jobs continue to go unfilled. The skills gap — the gap between the skills employers need to get the job done and the skills potential employees have — plays a significant role. Former White House Director Melody Barnes helps highlight the organizations fighting to bridge that gap: http://politi.co/1lslHQs **

THUNE AND PAI: SPARE THE INTERNET FROM SALES TAX — The Senate must renew the federal moratorium on taxing Internet access, Sen. John Thune and Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai argue in a joint-oped in today's Wall Street Journal. "Make no mistake: Should the moratorium expire, state and local governments will adopt new taxes on broadband, as they have with cellphones," they write. And those higher taxes, they say, will hurt demand, discourage infrastructure investment and frustrate the FCC's efforts to expand broadband deployment in rural America. The House passed a straightforward renewal of the moratorium earlier this week. The rest — which includes a quote from the Beatles' "Taxman," is here: http://on.wsj.com/1mTZYqa

HATCH “DISGUSTED” WITH BACKLASH AGAINST JOHNSON AT PTO — Sen. Orrin Hatch — who was a vocal supporter of the tech industry's push for patent reform in the Senate — nevertheless blasted the industry for its backlash against rumored PTO pick Phil Johnson. “I was not only disappointed but disgusted by it,” Hatch told your MT'er yesterday. “I don’t want him run down by people who just plain don’t realize how great he is. … Phil Johnson’s one of the brightest patent lawyers in the country.” Johnson’s name surfaced last month for the USPTO position, and while he was never officially nominated, tech industry groups and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) objected loudly to the choice, citing Johnson’s opposition to many proposed patent reforms this year. Faced with mounting pressure, the White House quietly took Johnson’s name out of consideration last week, according to Hill sources familiar with the matter. “The things that they’re complaining about he did to protect his company. I have no problems with that," Hatch said. "That’s his obligation as a corporate general counsel.”

COURTS, NOT THE COPYRIGHT OFFICE, WILL DECIDE WHAT AEREO CAN DO NEXT — The Copyright Office made headlines yesterday when it said Aereo couldn't qualify as a cable system in order to be eligible for compulsory license for broadcast programming. That license was Aereo's back-up plan, after the Supreme Court ruled against the company last month. At the end of the day, though, the Copyright Office isn't the one who will ultimately decide whether Aereo can or can't qualify as a cable system — that will have to wind its way through the courts, according to Matt Schruers, a vice president at CCIA, which counts Aereo as a member. "The copyright office is sticking to its guns that Aereo is a bad guy — big deal. It's how this plays out going forward in the courts. Federal courts have to sort this out." Indeed, the Copyright Office's letter noted that that body's actions today are "provisional" since Aereo is still arguing the issue in court.

TODAY: BAKER, BANKSTON TALK NSA SURVEILLANCE — The Congressional Internet Caucus will host a discussion on NSA surveillance and reform efforts with the agency's former general counsel Stewart Baker and Kevin Bankston, the policy director of the Open Technology Institute, along with representatives of BSA The Software Alliance and the American Enterprise Institute. Things kick off at noon in Rayburn.

BIDEN TALKS IT JOBS AND TRAINING -- Vice President Joe Biden praised a group of women training for jobs in IT for their hard work, at a Detroit community college Thursday. He highlighted the 1.4 million IT jobs expected to be available by 2020. “These women are incredible. It’s takes a lot of heartful courage to say, ‘I’ll take that chance.’ What none of us like to do is set ourselves up for failure,'" he said. He drew a lot of laughter, too, when he joked about his own computer illiteracy, saying he was glad he didn't have to learn computer skills.

ALIBABA SAID TO SET IPO FOR SEPTEMBER — The Chinese e-commerce giant will wait until sometime after Labor Day to hold its highly anticipated IPO, the Wall Street Journal reports. It had intended to begin trading in the first week of August but is rescheduling. More: http://on.wsj.com/1qLejEg

PERSONNEL BYTES: ENGINE HIRES POLICY MANAGER — Engine Advocacy is bringing on Evan Engstrom to be Policy Manager — a new position for the startup advocacy group. Engstrom is a former Farella Braun attorney with expertise in copyright and intellectual property.

-- AND SOFTBANK SNAGS GOOGLE SALES CHIEF: Google's long-time sales chief Nikesh Arora is leaving the search giant to take a position with SoftBank as vice chairman and Internet/media chief. SoftBank, which owns 80 percent of Sprint, is reportedly in talks to acquire T-Mobile. Google announced the change minutes ahead of its second quarter earnings call. (For more on that, see the NYT take on the company's continuing struggle for mobile ad dollars: http://nyti.ms/1oP2MRW) Omid Kordestani, Google's business founder and former head of Google sales, will step in to lead the company's business organization for now.

JUST FOR FUN: A CELLPHONE-ONLY SIDEWALK IN D.C. — The hurried, smartphone-addicted businessmen of 18th St. NW were asked to move into their own sidewalk lane Thursday. Painted white lines and words clearly marked off half of the sidewalk for phone users, complete with arrows to keep the north- and south-bound separate. The set-up was part of a National Geographic stunt, and Yahoo! news has more, plus photos: http://yhoo.it/1oP427I

SPEED READ

TWITTER TO UNVEIL NEW METRICS TO PROVE ITS SIZE. The measurements are designed to prove Twitter's reach is bigger than its 255 million dedicated users, the WSJ reports: http://on.wsj.com/1oP3gHT

IBM'S INTERNAL STRUGGLE. The NYTimes takes a look at the tug of war between the company's long legacy and its drive to innovate: http://nyti.ms/1oP2yu5

WHITMAN TO CHAIR HP BOARD, WAGNER JOINS APPLE BOARD. Meg Whitman will now chair the Hewlett-Packard board, the NYT reports: http://nyti.ms/1mTUuvv. Also from the Times: Apple has elected BlackRock founder Susan Wagner to its board. More: http://nyti.ms/1mTUATT

RETIRING CAMPBELL ON APPLE, JOBS AND COOK. Fortune speaks with Bill Campbell, who's stepping down after 17 years on Apple's board: http://bit.ly/1mU2xbH

CAMPAIGN PRO LUNCHEON BRIEFING: Join members of the Campaign Pro team for an interactive conversation about who is up, who is down, what to expect for the 2014 midterm elections and implications for 2016 on Monday. Find more information and RSVP: http://politi.co/Wi98ml.